In memory of our brother and son, Robert Bagnell,
who died moments after being tasered by police in Vancouver, British Columbia on June 23, 2004. Bob was the 7th Canadian to die and the 110th in North America.

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Amanda Beets is 28 years old, but she still refers to herself as a child, even when discussing her own little girl, Ashley.

As she recalls the events of March 21, 2005, when she was shocked repeatedly by a Knoxville Police Department Taser although she wasn't fighting with officers, she describes the experience in the plainest of terms: "It hurt. It really hurt."

Beets lives in a small house on Connecticut Avenue in North Knoxville with her mother, Carol Dianna Lewis. A bout with spinal meningitis when Beets was an infant left her with a speech impediment and impaired mental functioning, problems that have kept her from striking out on her own.

Lewis is anything but evasive when asked who started the chain of events that led up to the Tasing of her daughter: She did, by leading Knox County deputies on a car chase that began in Halls and ended a few minutes later in her driveway.

She readily concedes that the deputies - and the two KPD officers who showed up at her house to provide backup - had every reason in the world to be scared and angry after the lengthy pursuit, which ended in her arrest on charges of evading arrest, driving on a revoked license and simple possession of marijuana.

Lewis said she understands that what she did was wrong. What she doesn't understand is why her daughter, who she says functions at the level of a 12- or 13-year-old girl, was hurt in the process.

When Lewis pulled into her driveway, she was swiftly taken into custody by the numerous officers who responded to the scene. Beets was inside the house with Ashley but ran into the driveway after hearing several loud bangs that she mistook for gunshots.

Terrified that her mother was dead or dying, she raced toward where Lewis was being subdued by deputies. She began screaming at the officers. She was grabbed by KPD Officer Brian Headrick, who was soon joined by KPD Officer Chad Riggs.

What happened next is unclear, although more than a dozen people were interviewed during the ensuing Internal Affairs probe. Beets said she was kicked by someone and that Riggs used the Taser on her three times even though she wasn't struggling with officers.

Riggs admitted that he got out of his cruiser with the Taser in his hand, although KPD's rules at the time prohibited officers from deploying the weapons without getting a supervisor's approval. He said Beets seemed to be attacking Headrick and that during the melee, Beets ran into him. He said he did not know if the Taser came in contact with Beets but that it was "possible," records show.

"Headrick said Beets was yelling and 'flailing her arms around' but did not try to attack him," according to the IA report filed later on the incident. "He described her behavior as 'disorderly' and also said it was obvious by this point she was mentally challenged or 'there was something wrong with her.' He said at one point he, Beets and Riggs were all in close proximity to each other and he 'heard a Taser going off'... for 'five or six seconds.' "

Beets was released without being charged, and Riggs later told Headrick that he hadn't used the Taser and therefore didn't need to fill out a use-of-force report, records state.

Headrick reported his suspicions to his supervisors, who quickly contacted Beets and her family to find out what their accounts of the incident were. Riggs' supervisors were able to use a computer printout from Riggs' Taser to confirm that the weapon had been discharged three times, and a physician who examined Beets said she had "dual Taser burns on her upper back, chest, neck and on (her) breasts," the IA report states.

Sgt. Keith DeBow, who heads KPD's Taser training program, said "he felt it was 'highly unlikely' that Riggs' Taser could have been activated accidentally three times," the IA report notes.

Riggs was later suspended for 10 days without pay after the IA investigation concluded that he'd used excessive force and failed to make a use-of-force report. He resigned about six months after the incident.

Beets has since sued the police department, Headrick and Riggs for $1 million in compensatory and punitive damages in Knox County Circuit Court.

Headrick, who is still a KPD officer, couldn't be reached for comment, and Riggs' attorney, Richard W. Krieg, said he's advised his client to not discuss the case.

Beets says she was traumatized both mentally and physically by the event and wants the police department to make sure that more officers like Headrick are encouraged to turn in officers who break the rules. "I want to stop this before another kid gets hurt," she said.

Lewis said that she has nothing but praise for Headrick, whom she describes as "one of God's own." Lewis, who has a history of low-level criminal offenses, said that before the incident with her daughter, she didn't trust police officers to be moral. But Headrick's actions and the swift response of KPD supervisors, she said, convinced her that KPD genuinely wants to do the right thing.

When it comes to Riggs, however, Lewis is clear that an administrative punishment isn't satisfactory.

"I admitted I did wrong; I pleaded guilty to what I was charged with," she said.

"He assaulted my daughter. ... I would prefer that he was put in jail."

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taser-Related Deaths = 997+ in North America

See "A LIST OF THE DEAD"According to Taser International, the taser had nothing to do with any of these deaths. According to Amnesty International, the taser has been identified as either a cause or contributing factor in at least 60 of them. That number would be higher; however medical examiners and coroners are often not impartial but are instead biased in favour of the Crown or, as has been shown, they are under tremendous pressure from - among others - Taser International, to make a particular finding.See Judge rules for Taser in cause-of-death decisions

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Taser International finally admits risk that their weapons may affect the human heart

RCMP - TASERS POTENTIALLY LETHAL

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My Brother - Robert Bagnell June 27, 1959 - June 23, 2004

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2) Until such time as independent and unbiased study into the "real world" safety implications of Tasers has been properly completed, a moratorium must be imposed upon these weapons.

3) If, after independent and unbiased study has been completed, the Taser is going to remain in the police arsenal, it must be placed at a level equal to lethal force on the continuum of force and used only as a second-to-last resort.

4) Safety standards must be developed for Tasers. There are currently no Canadian safety standards in place for this weapon.

5) Police must not be allowed to investigate themselves but must be subject to independent and unbiased civilian oversight.

6) Families of people who die in police custody in Canada must be provided with funding so that they may be properly represented by legal counsel.

07. Robert Bagnell, 44 – Vancouver, BC - June 23, 2004 - X26 - "Official" cause of death: Consistent with restraint-associated cardiac arrest due to acute cocaine intoxication and psychosis. Bob's autopsy report showed marks on his body consistent to multiple taser shots, which incidently could not be affirmed by the pathologist because she could not explain those marks.

09. Samuel Truscott, 43 – Kingston, ON - August 8, 2004 - X26 - "Official" cause of death: Heart attack cause by drug overdose and "I can state categorically that the Taser did not play any role whatsoever in his death" said Chief Coroner for Ontario, Jim Cairns

24. Michael Langan, 17, Winnipeg, MB - July 22, 2008 - tasered 1 time - the autopsy report says Langan's death was caused by a heart arrhythmia brought on by the Taser shocks

25. Sean Reilly, 42 - Brampton, ON - September 17, 2008 - Peel Regional Police - X26 - tasered 2 times - the inquest jury will determine the official cause of death, however, “the forensic evidence indicated that the force used by the officers, including the Taser discharge, did not contribute to his death"

27. Trevor Grimolfson, 38 - Edmonton, AB - October 29, 2008, X26 - According to sources, after he was pepper sprayed, Trevor was tasered directly on the chest 5 times and tasered on the back of the neck 2 more times - Edmonton police said he was only tasered 2 times but testing on the tasers proves otherwise - "Official" cause of death: excited delirium brought on by drugs

29. Grant William Prentice, 40 - Brooks, AB - May 6, 2009 - RCMP - tasered 2 times - "Official" cause of death: acute cocaine toxicity and "the medical examiner also concluded the taser did not play a role in the death"

Ain't it the truth!

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80% percent of the population could be moved in either direction

Human rights activist Susan Sontag, when asked what she had learned from the Holocaust, said that 10 percent of any population is cruel, no matter what, and that 10 percent is merciful, no matter what, and that the remaining 80 percent could be moved in either direction.

THE Successes AREN'T the Problem

"The issue is not whether or not the taser can be used in a high percentage of cases to reduce death and/or physical trauma to officers and civilians alike. The issue is whether or not it's OK to kill the rest through ignorance and rationalization just because it's a small percentage ... The successes aren't the problem - the failures are. They're being told that tasers are nonlethal, so they blast away until people can't move. They're killing people by accident." Dave Siegler, father of Raymond Siegler, who died on February 12, 2004

The artistic side of Robert Bagnell

WE KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE

ROBERT ANGLEN

Robert Anglen, a reporter with The Arizona Republic, documented the first 167 Taser-related deaths. Mr. Anglen launched a journalistic investigation of Taser International, linking the Taser to multiple deaths, among other eye-openers.

At the 2005 Arizona Press Club Awards, Mr. Anglen won first place in the Investigative reporting category. He was the recipient of the Don Bolles Award for his report entitled "Taser tied to 'independent' study that backs stun gun'. “As part of an extraordinarily thorough investigation of Taser International, Anglen uncovered ‘smoking gun’ documents that showed the manufacturer was heavily involved in the key study that purported the devices are safe. Anglen also uncovered conflicts of interest and documented wide-spread problems with Taser safety — a matter of national and international public interest.”

In 2006, Mr. Anglen was a runner up for the Arizona Press Club's Virg Hill Journalist of the Year award. Peter Bhatia of The Oregonian wrote “Robert Anglen is an investigative reporter, pure and simple. Clearly, he is a reporter who, once he sinks his teeth into something, stays with it until the story is done. His ongoing work around the company that makes Tasers speaks to that."